Every holiday season, car fans around the world look forward to tradition — twinkling lights, family gatherings… and occasionally, record‑breaking runs with a Christmas tree mounted on a supercar. In 2025, Texan performance specialists Hennessey Performance Engineering combined automotive madness with festive cheer to set a new mark in an unconventional category: the fastest Christmas tree run ever recorded by a road‑legal car. At the center of this spectacle was one of the most powerful Corvettes ever built — the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, boasting a dramatic 1,064 horsepower thanks to Chevrolet’s own engineering and Hennessey’s performance ethos.
Hennessey: America’s High‑Performance Tuner at the Helm
Founded in Sealy, Texas, Hennessey Performance Engineering has long been synonymous with extracting extreme performance from already potent production cars. From high‑output muscle cars to bespoke hypercars, Hennessey’s portfolio demonstrates a commitment to raw power and mechanical savoir‑faire that pushes vehicles beyond their factory specifications. While the company has built some of the most powerful road machines on the planet, it’s perhaps their playful holiday tradition — the Christmas Tree Run — that captures the imagination of enthusiasts year after year.
The concept is simple: mount a festive, fully decorated Christmas tree on the roof of a high‑performance car and see how fast it can go. Over the years, vehicles as varied as Vipers, Mustangs and supercars have participated, with each year’s winner raising the bar in terms of speed and spectacle. For 2025, Hennessey turned to the newest, fiercest Corvette to headline the event.
The Star of the Show: The 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
Chevrolet’s latest Corvette ZR1 is a landmark in American performance engineering — a mid‑engine platform with a twin‑turbocharged 5.5‑liter flat‑plane crank V8 that delivers 1,064 horsepower and 828 lb‑ft of torque straight from the factory. This makes it one of the most powerful production Corvettes ever offered, establishing the ZR1 as a true contender in the upper echelon of high‑performance sports cars.
The new ZR1’s engine architecture, with its flat‑plane crankshaft and forced induction, is a departure from previous Corvette powerplants and showcases Chevrolet’s confidence in pushing the brand’s performance boundaries. With an 8‑speed automatic transmission and aerodynamic enhancements, the ZR1 is designed to excel both on the road and in high‑speed events. Even without modifications, the ZR1 has been credited with breathtaking acceleration figures and top speeds that put it on par with many European supercars — all while staying under the $200,000‑ish price bracket.
A Record‑Setting Christmas Run in Texas
On December 22, 2025, at Chase Field in Beeville, Texas, Hennessey took the new 2026 Corvette ZR1 and strapped a 5½‑foot Christmas tree covered in more than 200 lights to its roof. With professional driver Spencer Geswein at the wheel — a veteran of high‑speed runs and previous Christmas Tree Runs — the ZR1 blasted down the runway and hit a new festive record of 196 mph (315 km/h) while still carrying the holiday decoration. This is believed to be the fastest speed ever achieved by a road‑legal car with a Christmas tree mounted on top.
The achievement not only showcased the Corvette ZR1’s capabilities but also continued a tradition that has grown increasingly bold over the years. Hennessey’s Christmas Tree Run started more than half a decade ago but has evolved from a light‑hearted stunt into a fiercely competitive event that underlines the blend of performance and personality at the heart of car culture. Hennessey’s own previous record for the event came with a Venom 1000 Mustang in 2022, which reached 192 mph — a benchmark the ZR1 bested in spectacular fashion.
More Than Just a Stunt: Celebrating Performance and Passion
A casual observer might see the Christmas Tree Run as a whimsical holiday quirk, but among enthusiasts it’s a celebration of engineering excellence and the thrill of speed. For Hennessey, the event underscores a simple philosophy: cars are meant to be enjoyed — loudly, quickly, and sometimes absurdly. In a statement after the run, Hennessey President Alex Roys summed it up by saying that the tradition “reminds you why this whole thing started… because cars should be loud, fun, and just a little bit unhinged.”
Indeed, while record breakers and tuners might chase quarter‑mile times or Nürburgring lap records, there’s something uniquely relatable about lofting holiday cheer into the realm of high performance — even if it is metaphorical. The Christmas Tree Run gives engineers, drivers and fans alike a reason to pause, enjoy the spectacle, and appreciate both the capabilities of modern sports cars and the enthusiasm that drives automotive culture forward. 
The ZR1’s Broader Significance in the Performance World
Beyond its festive achievement, the 2026 Corvette ZR1 represents a significant milestone for Chevrolet and American automotive performance. Mid‑engine Corvettes have increasingly blurred the lines between traditional American muscle and global supercar performance, and the ZR1’s power output puts it firmly in the conversation with rivals far beyond the United States. With figures like 1,064 hp and a projected top speed well north of 200 mph in standard trim, the car is capable of delivering hypercar‑level performance without the hypercar price tag that typically accompanies it.
That power and performance aren’t lost on tuners like Hennessey. In fact, before the Christmas Tree Run, Hennessey’s own tests on the Corvette ZR1 — including dyno measurements — hinted that the car’s real‑world output might be even higher than the factory figure suggests. According to some dynamometer runs, chassis power numbers on a ZR1 tested by Hennessey showed roughly 1,051 hp at the wheels, implying the engine could potentially be underrated by factory figures or that driveline losses were lower than typical for such beasts.
Furthermore, rumors of further performance upgrades — including a potential Hennessey HPE1200 package that could boost output as high as 1,200 hp — show that there’s still plenty of untapped performance waiting to be unlocked in the ZR1 platform. While such upgrades are optional and may require additional hardware and tuning, they offer a glimpse of how far the platform can be pushed by aftermarket specialists.
The Legacy of the Christmas Tree Run Tradition
Hennessey’s Christmas Tree Run tradition has grown from humble beginnings to an eagerly anticipated annual spectacle. What began with smaller cars and more modest powerplants has evolved into a showcase for the latest and most extreme performance machines — all mounted with a holiday tree as both payload and playful challenge. Each year’s attempt builds on the last, with drivers and engineers refining their techniques and machines to push the envelope of what’s possible under this uniquely festive constraint.
While purists might scoff at the notion of strapping a tree to a supercar’s roof, for many, this is exactly the charm of car culture: combining technical excellence with irreverent fun, and celebrating performance in ways that engage both enthusiasts and casual observers alike. It’s a reminder that cars aren’t just about speed and competition — they’re also about creativity, community and shared experiences.
Beyond the Stunt: What It Means for Corvette and American Performance
The 196 mph tree run isn’t just another quirky headline; it highlights the ZR1’s role in elevating the Corvette brand and American performance as a whole. With its mid‑engine layout, turbocharged powerplant and aggressive dynamics, the ZR1 continues Chevrolet’s push to stack the Corvette against some of the most revered performance cars in the world — from front‑line European exotics to domestically‑built performance legends.
Moreover, events like the Christmas Tree Run bring these high‑performance machines to wider audiences. Videos and coverage circulating online — often accompanied by shocked and delighted commentary — expose a broader audience to the spectacle of high‑speed performance, injecting new excitement and appreciation for what modern engineering can achieve.
Conclusion — A Memorable Holiday Benchmark
At the intersection of performance engineering and festive whimsy, Hennessey’s 196 mph Christmas Tree Run with the 1,064 horsepower Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 stands as one of the most memorable automotive moments of 2025. Not only did it establish a new informal record — the fastest Christmas tree run by a road‑legal car — but it also celebrated a remarkable performance vehicle in a way that captured the imagination of car lovers worldwide.
Whether you see it as a testament to engineering prowess, a fun holiday stunt, or both, this achievement highlights the enduring appeal of cars that push boundaries and bring joy — loud, fast and brilliantly lit. With the Corvette ZR1 already making waves as one of the most powerful Corvettes ever and tuners like Hennessey ready to unlock even more performance, one thing is clear: American performance culture remains alive, bold and ready to surprise us every season.
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